Men in heels stand against domestic violence
Hamilton men from a variety of organisations have given up their dignity to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence against women.
Men from a variety of organisations have given up their dignity to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence against women.
The event, Walk a Mile in her Shoes, saw Hamilton men stepping out in women’s shoes yesterday in support of White Ribbon Day.
The White Ribbon campaign is focused this year on healthy and respectful relationships and is asking men to lead the way to ending men’s violence against women.
Police officer and chairperson of the Fairfield and Enderley Resilience Network (FERN) Sergeant Craig Taylor said: “To get change within our family violence arena it needs to start with the men. So Walk a Mile is a way to get men talking about that.”
The event was a collaboration between Work and Income and FERN to promote community safety and wellbeing.
“It’s a light-hearted way just to get men feeling some pain and relating that, to some degree, to what our female domestic violence victims go through on a daily basis,” Taylor said.
He said the Walk a Mile initiative is symbolic of how hard it can be and that we need to take care in our own communities to stop domestic violence.The invitation to participate was sent to men of the community, businesses and organisations, and one prominent heel stepper was National MP, David Bennett.
“It’s a big issue out there and we need to talk about it …we need to help each other out and not think it doesn’t happen in our communities or it doesn’t happen in our families because it can” Bennett said.
The day saw the community rally together with live entertainment, information stalls and plenty of interesting heel strutting.
The norm-challenging procession was quite a sight to behold as it left Winz’s Five Cross Roads office at 1pm and headed down Boundary Road towards the Waikato Migrant Resource Centre.
Men were otherwise dressed normally but their shoes ranged from sequinned towers worthy of Beyonce to modest flats.
Public responses included smiles, waves, tooting horns, second-take glances and overall amusement.A number of participants employed a sideways-collapsed-heel technique, others forged on despite the shakiness of their legs while a small few seemed to mock the challenge with their graceful gait.
Sergeant Taylor said the conversations and laughter he heard around the event were healthy and reassuring but that there was also a serious undertone to it around domestic violence.
His advice for anyone witness to violence, within the community or in their own families, is not to be passive.
“If you see something that’s happening that doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t…don’t just let things happen…get it sorted.
For help with domestic violence see whiteribbon.org.nz or areyouok.org.nz
For emergencies call 111
